Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Side Story: Glory to the Brave
by ZeonTwoSix
Summary: An Alternate Side Story taking place in between the events after Season 2 and A Wakening of the Trailblazer. This story will revolve around the Solbrave Squadron, as told through the POV of the lone female member. (Comes with the prelude containing a brief dialogue between its creator and its erstwhile leader.)
1. PRE-FLIGHT: (Re-) Birth of the Brave

**-=-=-=-=INCOMING TRANSMISSION=-=-=-=-**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

This portion of the fanfic will only tackle the split scene on the epilogue of Season 2's last episode. The pattern of the main fic will not in a way follow the one used here…

**-=-=-=-=END TRANSMISSION=-=-=-=-**

**PRE-FLIGHT: (Re-) Birth of the Brave**

The Northeastern coast of the American continent… It is said that a lot of the top thinkers from the former Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations would migrate here, somewhere in a remote, undisclosed location in the Pacific coast of Canada.

There, they take the hard-earned opportunity to escape the rigors of work in the laboratories, research facilities, or engineering centers. In some cases, they would consider it as their third home away from everything else.

Not for a certain engineer named Billy Katagiri, though…

Ever since the war ended in 2312, his exoneration from his previous involvement with A-Laws by the current Earth Sphere Federation government was, surprisingly, just a mere bonus for him. Deep inside was a continuously-flourishing drive to continue his work in Mobile Suit development, particularly the advancements in GN Drive Technology.

Knowing him though, such task is not much of a mean feat in itself. After all, he owed a lot of his studies in understanding the science behind Celestial Being's GN Drives to his mentor, the late Ralph Eifman. But it was only upon his entry into the ranks of A-Laws, where he was given the resources and the freedom to push his research to its fullest potential. That pursuit finally bore fruit when he successfully devised a stable Trans-Am system for the GN Tau Drives, beginning with the GNX-U02X Masurao.

Right now though, he is more concerned about one other thing. With the data that he compiled and applied to the GN Tau Drives now fully utilized by the ESF Military through their refurbished GNX-IV's, where to go next?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At a small cottage in one of Canada's ex-Union base located in the Pacific coast, he had begun to immerse himself in study. Day in, day out, he would sit in front of no less than three computer screens developing what would be the future of MS combat. Sadly, he struggled with churning out the right ideas.

Then, it hit him. He already had the concept in the first place, all he needed to do was put the pieces together in such a way that it would not just work well within expectations, but would definitely stand out as the new spearhead of the ESF Military.

About four months had passed, and the final touches to the new MS had been placed and polished. All that it needs now would be a new name.

Then an old friend showed up, leaning on the doorstep.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you or anything, Katagiri…"

Billy let off a light smile. "You're just in time, my friend. It's been quite a while since I last heard from you."

"Well, after that showdown with that young man, I figured I earned myself a proper retreat. Just to let me realize who or what I should surpass in the first place."

"After all the things we've been through as individuals, I could not think of a better solution than that."

"You're always quite compassionate with your words, you know that?"

"Yeah, so I'm told." Billy rose up from his seat and turned to the man he was talking to.

"Let me show you something interesting, Graham…"

True enough, the blonde man entered the room and was greeted to the blueprint and schematics for a brand new Mobile Suit.

"You did say that you would push the envelope of MS tech, but this may be your most ambitious yet."

"Well, you did mention to me before that in case that you'd go up against that Gundam pilot again, you'd want to defeat him in a Flag."

"I don't know. Ever since my last flight in the Susanowo, I felt that it is as far as one can take heart of the Flag to its absolute limit. I admit that even slapping on more than two drives on it won't give it that edge against the Gundam, more so that young man I dueled with."

"But that does not mean you'd give up on the legacy of the Flag already? Remember, it was the same machine that immortalized your name in the history of the Union military."

"I just don't think that it would be the same as the Flags I used to fly long before Celestial Being made their mark on history."

Billy then placed his hand on Graham's shoulder, as a sign of assurance.

"This I can attest, my friend. Once you get to fly this baby for the first time, it will be as if the spirit of the Flag Fighters, as well as those who believed in the capabilities of the Flag, has been reborn. And not just the Flag, but even those who once flew its predecessors and contemporaries will experience the same…"

"Well Katagiri, for once I will believe you. I'll give this beast a chance to rewrite history once more, just like old times."

"If that's the case, we will have to come up with a name for it now."

"There's no need for that. I've decided on that already…"

"That quickly?"

"Yeah. Its name should not just symbolize the passion of its creator, or its pilot, or the organization who commissioned it in the first place. As of this moment, its name shall symbolize the resolve of Humanity, in preserving and cultivating the peace that we finally gained after years of conflict. The name should pertain to its strong, unwavering spirit within, unbowed by any threat, unwilling to succumb to the limits, and unmatched in what it does best."

"And that name shall be…"

Graham calmly approached the main keyboard and typed the word on the blueprint.

"_**Brave."**_

x-x-x-x-x END OF PRELUDE x-x-x-x-x

**FLIGHT 1 COMING SOON…**


	2. FLIGHT I: Arrival of the Brave

**FLIGHT I:** Arrival of the Brave

X=X=X=X=X=X=X

"So… this is the MSWAD base."

I raised my head as I looked at the massive main building of the Mobile Suit Warehouse and Development Base in front of me. I have been to various military facilities of the Advanced European Union, but this is the first time I've entered a full-spec Union base. And, so far the only time I've entered Union territory without suspicious glares pointed at me.

My name is Neferu Naguib, an occasional soldier by occupation, a mobile suit pilot by specialty. But unlike the ones affiliated with either the Earth Sphere Federation or the Power Blocs that comprised it before, I flew under the flag of the Moralian PMC.

During my heyday as a pilot, I was nigh-unstoppable in an AEU Helion; so much that it earned me the nickname "Moralia's Desert Fox" from both my peers and my enemies, for my abilities in both desert-based ground and air combat. But by the time Celestial Being came into play in the various conflicts with their armed interventions, I knew that I would not have an inkling of a chance against them; so I quit the PMC at my prime.

I did try to get into the AEU's regular military forces for a change. But, having their then-new Enact thrashed by a single Gundam on its debut, the military received a disheartening shot at both legs, temporarily crippling their firepower. So I laid low for a few years, hoping that with the advancements in mobile suit technology, the military would have caught up with the Gundams.

But when I got enlisted into the ESF regular forces, I was in for a _very _rude awakening.

Not only were the Gundams overpowering every mobile suit that tried to go against it, but I found out that a great divide has developed within the ranks, all because of the actions taken by the Autonomous Peacekeeping Force, A-Laws. Although many of their members joined in defending the African Orbital Elevator during the Break Pillar Incident, the higher-ups refused to take responsibility for the damage done, even to the point of throwing the blame both at Celestial Being, the rebel group named Katharon, and the ESF Coup D'état faction who initially held the orbital elevator hostage as protest.

I lost a lot of friends during that incident, some of them having just retired from their work with the PMC, others jumping sides like me, either with the ESF Military or Katharon. And those A-Laws bastards just watched as they suffered.

With that I left the regular forces and met up with the A-Laws breakaway faction, then under the command of Colonel (now ESF Brigadier-General) Kati Mannequin. Sadly, I never took part that much in the space battle that ensued due to the shortage of available mobile suits; thus I ended up with the engineering team aboard Col. Mannequin's flagship, due to my experience on MS software calibration.

After the war, I forwarded my resume to her to see if I can still have the chance of piloting a mobile suit once more. And the rest up to this point is history.

Right now, I have come at MSWAD for a special assignment. I was selected from about a list of 30 to 50 pilots to take part in the Federation's experimental next-generation mobile suit program. And I'll be joining 4 other pilots, who like me have no idea as to what kind of experimental mobile suit we will be using.

All we know for sure, the new unit has been thoroughly tested by the man who will be taking command over our squad. And we are to meet him today.

"Um, could you point me to conference room B-5 please?" I asked a passing-by MSWAD clerk, who kindly gave me directions to the meeting area.

By the time I got into the conference room, there were about three men seated in front of the table. One of them, a Japanese guy who is about the same age as me, was reading a pocket novel probably to keep himself occupied. Another, a middle-aged Australian, was catching a shuteye.

Then a familiar face approached me.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm in the same room as the Desert Fox of Moralia."

I turned to the man who spoke. He was a German MS pilot from the AEU, whom I have fought countless times during my heyday, and apparently whom I have worked with during the siege against the so-called Innovades.

"Lt. Rudolf Schreiber. It's a pleasure meeting you here."

"Just a mere coincidence, Nef. Remember, you still owe me a proper dogfight after that stint in the Syrian border.

"I never thought you would still remember that. Are you still willing to bring that up now that we're working together?"

"Hey, just because we joined forces before, doesn't mean I'll just let my honor as a pilot get tarnished that easily."

Just then, another guy arrived. He has quite a large build compared to the others, so naturally I got a bit intimidated. Especially when he placed his right hand over my head like a father to his kid.

"Now, now," said the big guy, in a gruff yet understandable Russian Accent. "Let's not be too hot off our heels here."

Schreiber let off a smirk and a gruff as he left us to get a cup of coffee.

"By the way, the name's Viktor Leonov, former Vice-Captain of the AEU's MS Division at Moscow. You must be the ex-Moralian pilot who they were talking about."

I responded with a nod, still confused as to how these people came to know my reputation as a mercenary.

"You need not worry about doubts from other people while you're here, Lieutenant. Right now, the reason we have been picked is that we are considered the cream of the crop in what we do. It's basically more of what we can offer to the table, to put it simply."

"Uh… Thank you for the assurance, Vice-Captain," I replied.

"Please, you can call me Viktor if you want; I tend to feel too humbled when people address me by rank," he said.

"Anyways, I've already known about you and Schreiber, but may I know who the other two are?"

"Ah, those two, huh? Well, first thing's first: they said that the new unit they'll be letting us use is a transformable mobile suit equipped with a GN Tau drive. And since the former Union and AEU were the only power blocs who fielded transforming MSes, the selection process was only limited to their respective member states."

"No wonder I don't see pilots from the Human Reform League…"

"Yeah. Anyway…"

He pointed to the guy nodding off, who was already slowly waking up.

"That guy's Lt. Yagan Crow. He led a platoon of Union pilots from their base in Australia in assisting the HRL during the incident at their Orbital Elevator. He had about 5 confirmed hostile MS kills during that skirmish."

"He's quite good then. And the other one?"

"That's Lt. Akira Takei. He's a Former Commanding Officer of the Union's Japanese MS unit before having reassigned to the OverFlags task force."

"You mean the Union's contingent during that operation at the Tamalakan Desert?"

"Yup; he was one of the few members of the said unit who survived after having actually dealt with one of the Gundams."

Just then, Lt. Takei rose from his seat and approached me and Viktor. We introduced ourselves to him and shared a few handshakes.

"I'm just surprised that the top brass did not include 'The indestructible' on our squad," the lieutenant said candidly.

It was actually a big surprise for me as well. You see, the AEU did have an ace as well in 2nd Lt. Patrick Colasour. The reason for the moniker is that he is one of those in the ESF who has actually survived the most encounters with a Gundam. But apparently, that was just more of a running gag, since he was almost always being shot down first.

Viktor let off a couple of laughs before replying. "Well, let's just say the Lieutenant has been busy being the Brigadier General's personal guard, so he's quite unavailable."

Oh, I also need to emphasize that Lt. Colasour, who was previously a massive ladies' man, actually got married after the Innovade conflict… to the Brigadier General herself.

"By the way," I asked Lt. Takei. "Any word as to who's taking command of our unit?"

He then looked at the door which just opened. "Well, you're about to find out."

Just then, a blonde man in an ESF Uniform approached the end of the conference table. Since his attire was indicative of his status as Major, we all stood and saluted, to which he replied with the same.

"It seems you've all met each other, so let's start with the introductions." All of us moved to the seats near the whiteboard.

"To start off, I am ESF Major Graham Aker, former Captain of the Union's OverFlags Task Force and current MSWAD chief test pilot," he said. Just then, the projector came on and flashed what looks like a squadron symbol.

"And as of right now, I will be the commanding officer of the recently-established Solbrave Squadron – the unit which you are now officially members of."


	3. FLIGHT II-A: Learning from the Brave Pt1

**FLIGHT II-A: Learning from the Brave Pt. 1**

"_Pull out, Lieutenant!"_

"_Negative! I'm proceeding with the maneuver!"_

"_Don't be so foolish, you cannot pull off that trick at that altitude and with that speed!"_

"_If I cannot pull off this trick then what more if I'm already using the new suit?!"_

_*BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP! BEEEP!*_

"_Come on; just a little more…"_

"_Nef, belay that attempt, now!"_

"_Argh, I can still make it!"_

_*Engaging transformation sequence…*_

"_Yes, I did it! Wait-"_

_*POWER OFFLINE…*_

"_**CRUD!"**_

Now before we go to what just happened, let me rewind about 36 hours ago…

"I must say, this new MS the federation's letting us use is quite something…"

Rudolf made this comment after everyone has been handed a copy of the schematics for the brand new unit called Brave. And for once I agree with him; it's virtually a massive leap forward compared to its predecessors from both the AEU and the Union.

"Yes, but with the self-imposed limitations the Feds have imposed over military spending on research and development, we'll only be fielding about 5 of these Brave Standard Test-Types…. and only as an engineering and research exercise."

The statement was from Project Director Billy Katagiri, currently one of the top scientists here at the MSWAD base, and the person behind the Solbrave Project. He just joined us in the conference room about half an hour after we met with the Major.

"If that's so," Lt. Takei asked, "then what will the Major be fielding as his own? He _is_ leading our squadron, right?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Aki." The Major responded, calling him by the nickname he used during their time with the OverFlags Task Force. "For now though, everyone must have familiarity with the piloting dynamics of the new suit before getting behind its controls."

I raised my hand and asked, "Judging by the specifications of the new suit, we'll be testing them more in space combat, am I correct?"

"Well, the shape of the Brave allows flight versatility in any environment, but you're correct; the weapons and armor are specialized for space missions," the Director clarified.

"Which is why starting the day after tomorrow, you will be fielding OverFlags for a special lesson."

"A special lesson, sir?" Lt. Crow inquired.

"Yes. In particular, the three of you will be taking that lesson." He pointed at me and Lts. Crow and Schreiber.

"Man, I don't like the looks of this..." Schreiber silently uttered.

And for good reason, too. The Major has been well-known throughout the ESF Military, not just for going head-to-head with a Gundam. Not long ago before Celestial Being's very first recorded armed intervention, he was reported to have performed the first high-speed mid-air transformation maneuver with a prototype Union Flag. All while having read the operations manual _once._

So great was that feat that it was eventually nicknamed the _Graham Special _since he was the only pilot at that time thathad the skills to pull it off. And so far, no one has ever reached his level. Well except for that one certain instance during the operation at the Tamalakan Desert, where one of the Major's subordinates in the OverFlags Task Force successfully pulled off that stunt while going for a diving charge against one of the Gundams.

Unfortunately, that pilot never made it out alive as he was immediately shot down afterwards. A cruel fate for a pilot, to be honest.

"Yagan, Nef, Dolf…" my attention turned to the Major. "Within the next few days, I want the three of you to master the Graham Special, as it will be one of the defining techniques that will separate our squadron from everyone else. Failure to do so would eventually lead to your dismissal from the squad. Is that clear?"

"YES SIR!"

We had no choice but to abide by his orders. But perfecting the trickiest HSMAT* maneuver in ESF history within the span of just a few days? Looks like my stay at the MSWAD base just got a LOT more interesting…

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After the meeting, I consulted Dr. Katagiri as to the base's facilities. Apart from the bread-and-butter features of typical bases, he also revealed some simulator areas where they usually teach new pilots back in the Union days.

"Unfortunately, I doubt that they are still in fine condition though. It has been quite a while since the simulator machines were operational due to the increase in numbers of GN-X-specific ones."

"But they can _still_ mimic flight conditions and dynamics as the test units we will be using for training, right?"

"I think so, since the simulators were purposely built with the Union Flag MS series in mind."

With that, I made my way towards the simulation room, where I saw three large simulator machines, all rigged with the necessary hydraulic systems to replicate the pitch, roll, and yaw of the Flag series. What was surprising though was one of them was being used at that time.

A few minutes later, the active simulator stopped. Then someone came out from it…

"Hmmn, seems you're not the type to waste time on unnecessary things, Nef."

"Major?"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

_* HSMAT = High-Speed Mid-Air Transformation_

To be continued in FLIGHT II-B…

X-X-X-X-X-X-X


End file.
